Guidewires are used for the insertion of catheters into the arterial system of a patient. After insertion of the guidewire to the proper location, the catheter is threaded over the guidewire and assisted in its advance to the proper site by following the guidewire.
As the guidewire is advanced, typically in a guiding catheter, the surgeon needs to rotate the guidewire to facilitate its advancement through the branching arterial pathways.
Because it is often difficult to rotate a small-diameter guidewire, a pin vise has been used in the prior art to serve as a rotating handle for the guidewire. A pin vise is a well-known item which comprises a structure like a small drill chuck with a cylindrical handle. The chuck is threaded over the proximal end of the guidewire and advanced to a desired position. A chuck collet, a part of the pin vise, may be then tightened onto the wire so that the pin vise is firmly attached to the guidewire, and serves as a rotating handle to facilitate the manual rotating of the guidewire as it is advanced.
It has been a disadvantage of conventional guidewire rotating handles that they must be applied to the guidewire from the end. By this invention, a side loading wire grip is provided which may serve as a handle for rotating a guidewire, and which may be laterally applied to the guidewire at any desired position. Its attachment is very quick, so that the surgeon may apply the wire grip of this invention to an intermediate position on the guidewire spaced from the ends; advance the guidewire a certain amount; loosen the wire grip of this invention and shift it proximally along the guidewire a certain degree; followed by once again further advancing the guidewire. By this means, the side loading wire grip may be quickly applied along any position of the guidewire rather than having to find the proximal end, to slide it from the end to the intermediate position along the guidewire where its use is desired.